by Catelyn Cash
“She’ll be pleased to hear your voice. She was worried about you,” Jake said. “We both were.”
“I’m fine.” Seth waved away Jake’s concern and signaled the bartender to bring two beers.
Jake wanted to touch him. He wanted to touch him so badly he had to place his hands on the bar to keep from doing it. Which was ridiculous. Before the whole “gay” thing he’d have thought nothing of hugging Seth. Now just thinking about it felt awkward.
“How’s your love life?” asked Jake. He indicated the beer mat on which the woman had scribbled her phone number before realizing she was wasting her time.
“I think my complete disinterest is making the women less tenacious,” said Seth. “Yours?”
“My experiment in dating other men has been a complete disaster,” Jake reported with a shudder. “And I can tell you right now, I have no desire to continue with it.”
“And your sex life?” asked Seth casually.
“Nonexistent considering you’ve been gone for months and Kayla is on another continent. Yours?”
Seth took a pull on his beer. “It’s looking up since you got here.”
Jake grinned. “Wanna go somewhere and fool around?”
“I’d rent a room right here, right now,” Seth told him.
“Then it’s your lucky day.” Jake showed him the key he’d picked up from the front desk on the way in, and they downed their drinks and walked out of the bar, straight to the elevators. Jake still didn’t ask about the limp.
“So, do you and Kayla talk a lot?” asked Seth as they rode to their floor.
“Every day while you were away.”
“Oh?”
“Relax.” Jake nudged him teasingly. It was their first physical contact in three months, and excitement jolted through him. “We talk about you. Because you are the center of the universe.”
“No,” said Seth quietly. “Kayla is. I really missed her.”
“Yeah. Me too. Talking to her is great, but talking’s not what I want.”
The elevator arrived at their floor. When they found their room, Jake pressed the electronic card against the pad. Seth walked in first, then turned so abruptly Jake barely had space to come in behind him and close the door.
“Take your clothes off,” Seth growled.
Excitement quickening his pulse, Jake began to strip. “Used to giving orders, soldier boy?“ he teased.
Seth’s gaze clouded, and Jake immediately regretted his flippancy. He yanked his shirt over his head without bothering with the buttons, desperate to pull Seth back to him and out of the dark place where his mind often dwelled after a difficult mission. And Jake had the impression this one had been particularly difficult.
As he kicked his pants off, Seth’s gaze dropped to Jake’s crotch, and just like that, he was once more fully present. Jake was already hard, but his cock continued to thicken and rise in response to the hunger in Seth’s eyes.
“Aren’t you going to undress?” Jake asked.
“Not yet.”
Seth dropped to his knees, grunting in pain, presumably from his injury. He nuzzled into Jake’s groin, breathing deeply, and his powerful body shuddered. Seth licked Jake’s balls, using his tongue along the whole length of his cock before closing his eyes and greedily searching out the first salty drops of cum from his slit.
Then, with a sigh, Seth clamped his lips over Jake’s cock, stroking the sensitive underside with his tongue.
Jake groaned. “I should be doing this for you. You’re hurt—”
“No.” Seth tore his mouth away, his voice thick. “I need this. Don’t make me explain how much I need this.”
Seth closed his mouth around Jake again, sucking him deep. His approach was almost brutal in its intensity, but Jake had no complaints. He loved this first fuck whenever Seth had been away, loved the wildness he brought back with him.
He ran his fingers through Seth’s hair, free now to touch him as much as he liked. Seth sucked Jake deeper, and he sighed happily, thrusting into Seth’s mouth.
Cupping Jake’s buttocks with his hands, Seth kneaded and spread them at the same time, yanking Jake toward him, forcing him even deeper into his throat. He ran a finger along Jake’s crack, massaging his tight hole. Jake cried out in pleasure and staggered slightly, feeling the cool wood of the door against his back, realizing they were barely in the bedroom, that anyone walking along the corridor could hear them, but he didn’t care. He braced himself against the door, widening his stance, inviting Seth to do what he wanted.
Seth released Jake’s cock long enough to wet his finger with saliva, then pushed his finger deep into Jake’s ass. Jake bit down on his lower lip, fighting the sudden sweet surge in his balls, trying to make it last, but Seth was relentless, using his fingers and his mouth to devastating effect.
Jake’s orgasm hit hard, with so little warning there was no question of him pulling out. He held Seth’s head, spurting deep into his throat, savoring the incredible sensations of Seth sucking and swallowing, sucking and swallowing.
WITH THE TASTE of Jake’s cum on his tongue, Seth rose clumsily to his feet, cursing his injured leg, his hand already on his belt buckle. “Get on the bed,” he ordered, wondering if he sounded as desperate as he felt.
Jake hurried to obey and was on his hands and knees in the time it took Seth to undress. Jake glanced back, and his eyes widened at the bandage on Seth’s thigh. “For God’s sake, Seth, what happened?”
Jake tried to scramble up, but Seth splayed his hand on Jake’s back and held him in position, the sight of Jake’s upturned arse driving him crazy with need. “Tell you later,” he said, knowing he never would. Then he hesitated. “This is going to be fast. And it might be rough. But I need you, Jake.”
Jake’s eyes glittered, and he nodded as if he understood, but Seth knew he didn’t. He himself had had to face death to fully learn what Jake meant to him.
“Give it to me,” Jake begged. “As hard as you like.”
The way Seth felt right now, that was going to be pretty hard. “Tell me you want this,” he snarled.
“I want it,” said Jake. “Make me come again.”
His words heated Seth’s blood. Squeezing some lube directly onto Jake’s crack, Seth massaged the gel into his hole, pushing one, then two fingers inside him, knowing he should take more time, but for the life of him, he just couldn’t.
“Fuck me, Seth,” Jake moaned, and Seth’s heart swelled with, what? Love? Of course he loved Jake. Jake was part of him. Thoughts of Jake and Kayla had been the only thing that had kept him alive when he’d lain injured behind enemy lines. The memory of that dark time broke his concentration, and he faltered.
“Fuck me,” Jake said again, pushing back on Seth’s hand, his actions and enthusiasm mercifully bringing Seth back to the present. “Fuck me as deep and as hard as only you can.”
Taking him at his word, Seth put the condom on at speed, then pushed his cock into Jake, surging past the resistance. Jake drew his head back and cried out sharply.
“Okay?” Seth gasped, praying Jake would say yes. Praying he hadn’t been too rough.
“Better than okay,’” Jake assured him, though his sides heaved as he breathed deep and fast. “Just give me a minute.”
Sweat broke out on Seth’s forehead as he fought his instincts, knowing he would never leave the horrors of the past few months behind till he was resting balls-deep inside Jake.
Jake groaned, a familiar, intimate sound that Seth had feared he might never hear again. His whole body shook as he reminded himself he was home. He was home and he was fucking Jake.
Like a racehorse at the starting gate, he waited for Jake’s signal, feeling his orgasm already gathering in his balls.
“Okay.” Jake nodded.
With a greedy lunge, Seth plunged into him, his weight forcing Jake down onto the bed. Seth followed him down, ignoring the sharp pain in his leg, burying himself all the way, satisfying a need only Jake could fill. He stay
ed there, breathing hard, savoring the moment. The pain in his leg miraculously vanished, swallowed by pure, raw pleasure. After a moment he began to move, quickly finding a fast, satisfying rhythm.
Almost too soon, his cock began to jerk, and Jake tightened around him, keeping him deep. Seth cried out, riding a climax so fierce his vision blurred to blackness.
Barely taking time to recover, he pulled out and rolled the other man over, working Jake’s cock with his hand till he too cried out, jets of hot cum splashing over Seth’s hand, Jake’s belly.
Afterward, they lay naked on the bed, side by side on their backs, close but not touching.
“What happened to your leg?” asked Jake.
“It’s nothing.” Seth dismissed his injury, which was in fact throbbing painfully. But he knew exactly how the conversation would go if he told Jake he had been shot. “Fuck, I feel better for that,” he said and meant every word. “The only thing that could have improved it would have been having Kayla here with us.”
“I know. I’d love for her to see this side of you. It’s really hot.”
Seth rolled onto his side, facing Jake. “I want her, Jake,” he said seriously. “And I want you. I spent a lot of time in hospital thinking about things, and I know I can’t live without either of you.”
“So you agree we should tell her we’re straight?” asked Jake hopefully.
Seth rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “No. The exact opposite. I still think the idea of us fucking turns her on.”
“This again? We’ve been over this. She hates it. If she liked it, she’d still be married to that dick.”
“The dick she married wasn’t into her. We are.”
Jake shook his head. “Sorry, but I just don’t see it the way you do. I’ve had plenty of time to think about this—”
Not nearly as much as I have, thought Seth.
“— and the only way to keep her is for us to give up sex with each other. We can do that. We’ve done it before when one of us was in a relationship.”
You’re wrong! Seth bit back his frustration. Being shot, captured, escaping, and throughout his forced convalescence, he’d had had plenty of time to work out what was important in life. Kayla and Jake were his life. The only thing that had kept him sane during his ordeal was reliving every second the three of them had spent in Mexico. But he knew if he tried to explain, Jake would never get past the bit where he had been shot.
“What would be the ideal result for you?” Seth asked. “Best-case scenario?”
“You have to ask? The three of us, living together, sharing everything, sharing each other,” said Jake quickly.
“We can’t have that if we’re living a lie,” Seth pointed out.
Jake sat and swung his legs off the bed, his back to Seth. “What if you’re wrong? We could lose her forever.”
“But if I’m right, we get it all. You get the family you always wanted, and we get to keep this too.”
“No.” Jake’s back was rigid. “It’s too risky. We tell her we’re straight. And we damn well make sure we are.”
Seth ran his finger along the crack of Jake’s arse, and Jake shivered.
“It isn’t a lie.” Jake kept his back to Seth. “We tried living as a couple before you left. How long did we last? Three months? The only way I could live with you again is if Kayla is there too.” He rose to his feet and looked down at Seth. “I need you to be with me on this. Trust me. It’s for the best.” He walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
Jake was wrong. Seth knew in his heart he was wrong. And so was Kayla. Someone had to make them see that life was too precious to waste a single second.
They could have everything. But only if they were honest with each other.
He sat and caught sight of his reflection in the mirror, seeing the tattoo on his shoulder as bold and fresh as the day he’d had it done.
Who Dares Wins.
Chapter Ten
Neckties and designer suits had a limited role in Major Seth Hanson’s life, but as he strolled self-consciously around Kayla’s London exhibition, he was glad he had come straight from a business meeting—his usual T-shirt and khakis wouldn’t have cut it in this upmarket gallery.
Seth had known from Kayla’s sketches that she had talent, but seeing her finished work displayed in all its glory took his breath away.
Under subtle lighting in the center of the room was a life-size model of the woman from Ma’ K’âaba lying on jaguar skins with the men masturbating over her. The detail was incredible, from the drape of the animal skins to the woman’s smile and the unique way each man gripped his cock. It blew Seth’s mind to think that Kayla had shaped these people out of nothing more than clay and water.
The impact of such a lewdly private act on very public display was both shocking and compelling, but Seth didn’t have time to give it his full attention. Reluctantly, he tore his gaze away.
Kayla’s vibrant reproductions of the Ma’ K’âaba murals lined every wall and were exactly as he remembered them. No, not quite. He smiled when he saw that she had worked a unique twist into each and every one.
On the wall nearest him, a man Seth distinctly remembered as a jaguar warrior had morphed into a Roman centurion. Same pose, same eager expression, different outfit. The next scene depicted a modern-day Marine getting head from a dark-haired maiden wearing nothing but a shimmering necklace of quetzal feathers. The Marine had the face of a Mayan warrior but sported Jake’s cock, and Seth choked back a startled laugh.
“Wonderful, isn’t it?”
He turned from the image to acknowledge the two women who had joined him. “Yes. Wonderful,” he muttered, thinking, Holy shit! That’s Jake’s cock!
“And the warrior theme is utterly timeless, don’t you agree?” said the blonde woman.
“Warrior theme?” asked Seth.
The woman blinked at him. “Haven’t you noticed? All the men are soldiers.”
No, he hadn’t noticed. He’d been too busy sniggering at how Jake would react when he discovered his cock was on public display.
“That one’s my favorite.” The blonde indicated a Jacobite rebel lying on a stone altar, broadsword at his side, kilt up around his waist, and an anticipatory glint in his eye. A woman knelt between his legs, reaching for—
Fuck! She reached for the Highlander’s cock. Except it was Seth’s cock, erect, larger than life, and being ogled by a roomful of people.
Seth was not a man given to blushing, but now he felt himself burn from forehead to toes. Snatching a glass of wine from a passing waiter, he knocked it back.
“Each piece is so filled with energy.” The blonde seemed mesmerized by the painting, whereas her friend stared somewhat disconcertingly at Seth himself.
“I know.” The brunette ran her tongue provocatively over her lips. “Such powerful men…so muscular… Tell me, do you work out? You look as if you work out.”
To his horror, her flirtatious interest began to have an alarming effect on his anatomy. Or maybe it was the hungry look in her friend’s eye as she stared at the painted version of his penis not two feet away. Either way, his cock rose with embarrassing speed.
“Er…not as much as I’d like to. Excuse me,” he said as if he had spotted someone he knew. And then he did see someone he knew, and he barely noticed his two companions wandering off.
Most of the women in the room wore black, but Kayla had poured herself into a shimmering dress of liquid silver. Her skin glowed, her blonde hair swept up in an intricate style that showed off the graceful line of her neck. Utterly elegant and exquisitely beautiful, so far removed from the sexy ragamuffin who had sheltered from a Mexican storm that Seth was struck dumb.
Coming here was a stupid idea. He should have waited for Jake. Jake could approach beautiful women. He could discuss art without getting a hard-on. Conversation, small talk, putting his point across were like oxygen to Jake. Whereas Seth… Well, Seth liked action. Action that was sometimes mispl
aced, he realized—like coming here to speak to Kayla, unannounced and without Jake’s knowledge. In fact, Jake would go apeshit if he knew Seth was here.
He fingered his tie clip, subtly emblazoned with the motto of his regiment—Who Dares Wins—and told himself to man up, just talk to her, sound her out. But his feet refused to move. Had terrorists swept into the gallery and taken Kayla hostage, Seth would have saved the day. But he could not walk across the room and talk to a gorgeous blonde in a gloriously backless dress.
“Thank you,” he heard her say. “But it’s been quite a day. I think I’ll be heading home soon.”
Her voice at least was familiar, and his unruly cock perked up even more, like a Labrador hearing its master’s voice.
The crowd around her began to disperse, but one man lingered. Seth didn’t catch what he said, but Kayla shook her head. “Thanks, Roger, but I mean it. I’m bushed.”
The man put a hand on her arm. “Just one drink. I’d love you to talk me through some of the larger panels. It would mean so much to discuss the finer details with the artist.”
“Tomorrow, I promise,” Kayla told him with a smile. She tried to walk away, but Roger leaned in and whispered something in Kayla’s ear. Seth caught the words “model” and “inspiration,” and Kayla stiffened.
“That is completely inappropriate, Roger,” she said coolly.
Seth reached her side in an instant. “Kayla? Ready to go?”
“Seth?” Her face lit up in delighted surprise. “What on earth are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t miss your show, could I?”
“Do you mind?” snapped Roger. “This is a private conversation.”
“Not that private. I heard you from across the room.” Seth smiled, deliberately showing too many teeth. Roger looked disconcerted, and when Seth clamped a hand on his shoulder and helpfully propelled him toward the exit, he didn’t resist. “I’m sure you can appreciate an artist like Kayla doesn’t talk about her inspiration with just anyone. Maybe you can make an appointment? Sometime when you are sober would be best.” Gently but firmly, he pushed Roger out the door.
